The present invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus for packaging strips of material and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for transferring a strip of material cut from a supply source to a support web or thin substrate, such as paper, and depositing the strip on the support web at a predetermined location and having a predetermined spacing between successive strips.
Various devices are known in the meat production line field for the transfer of food material strips, such as bacon slices, to a support web for conveyance to a packaging station. In the transfer of the slices from the supply to the support web, the individual strips or slices must be assisted as they travel from the bacon supply to a supply stack or a take-off conveyor. Quite often, the slices are transferred by way of a mechanical pin or other member which engages them and flings them through the air space separating the material supply and a slice receiving means.
This method has a number of drawbacks. One drawback is that the operating speed of the mechanical member is limited because the slice encounters air resistance as it is thrown through the air, and the travel of the slice through the air and the resultant placement thereof becomes random rather than ordered. In addition, the texture of the sliced product and the temperature of it may affect the speed of operation. Thus, the exact placement onto a support web or take-off conveyor belt is not always ensured with a mechanical transfer system of this type and the operating speed of the entire production is limited by the maximum operating speed of the transfer member.
Quick transfer of the material strips and the exact placement thereof on a support web is desirable in order to allow the slicing and packaging components of the production line to operate at their most efficient speeds. Additionally, accurate registration of the individual material strips on the support web is desirable to ensure that when the support web is severed after the strips have been placed thereon, the severing device engages the support web at a gap which occurs between individual slices and not at a location where the severing device engages a slice restiing on the support web. The present invention provides highly efficient and accurate slice registration, and, when incorporated into an overall slicing and packaging production line, it can facilitate high speed synchronization of all of the production line components, thereby enabling the transfer and packaging components to operate at higher speeds adequate to accommodate high slicing component speeds. Furthermore, by capturing the slices onto a substantially flat surface, the present invention reduces the number of variables such as meat temperature, slice thickness and meat texture which can affect the meat slicing speed. At high speeds, the present invention virtually allows the "printing" of the material strips onto the support web.
By proceeding in accordance with the present invention, material strips which are severed from a material supply are transferred to a first rotating drum located proximate to the slicer. The slice is transferred pneumatically, by way of negative air pressure, and adhered to the outer rotating surface of the first drum and held in place while the drum rotates a predetermined distance. A second driven rotating drum is arranged proximate to and generally underneath the first drum and conveys a continuous support web to a location proximate to the first drum. When the material slice is positioned adjacent to the intended deposit location on the support web, the slice is urged off of the first rotating drum outer surface and onto the support web.
The rotational speed at which each of the first and second drums rotate can be independently controlled to allow the material slices to be deposited on the support web in a variety of predetermined spacings. The negative air pressure which is used to adhere the severed slice to the first drum outer surface eliminates the need for a purely mechanical transfer member. By positioning the first drum closely adjacent the material supply, the distance which the slice must travel to reach the rotating drum is reduced to a minimum. Positive air pressure can be used to transfer the slice off of the first drum onto the support web. Alternatively, the slices can be urged off the first drum outer surface by extended elastic bands. Consequently, the positioning of the slices on the first drum can be positively controlled and the speed thereof can be varied to ensure accurate spacing required between successive slices.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for transferring material slices from a slicing station to a support web.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus and method whereby individual, successive material slices are tranferred from a slicing station onto a packing substrate which is conveyed to a downstream forming assembly or the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus for depositing material slices on a continuous support web which includes two rotating drums operatively associated with each other in which the first rotating drum attracts and receives the slice on its outer surface and deposits the slice on a continuous support web conveyed by the second rotating drum to a position proximate the material slice.
Yet another abject of the present invention is to provide an improved slicing and packaging apparatus including a material slicing station, a station for transferring successive material slices to a continuous support web to form a slice-support web assembly, and a station for forming successive slice-support web assemblies into a form suitable for packaging, wherein the transfer station includes rotating means for transferring sliced material strips to a continuous support web moving in synchronization with the rotating transfer means.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a transfer apparatus having two counterrotating operatively associated drums, the first rotating drum having a generally cylindrical outer surface rotating around an inner core, the inner core having a first pneumatic means operatively associated therewith which utilizes negative air pressure to adhere material strips to the drum outer surface, the inner core also including second pneumatic means which utilizes positive air pressure to urge successive material slices off of the outer surface of the first rotating drum, the second rotating drum also having a first pneumatic means operatively associated therewith which applies a negative air pressure to a preselected portion of the second drum outer surface to adhere a continuous support web thereto, the first rotating drum second pneumatic means urging successive material slices off of the first drum outer surface and onto the continuous support web.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved meat slice transfer apparatus which "prints" individual successive meat slices in registration upon a moving substrate web of packing paper.
These and other features and objects of the present invention will become more apparent from a reading of the following detailed description.